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Grindy-grind

Thanks for the info, Jeanne!

So far I haven't noticed any grinding sound, just a shaky vibe when I start to move from a full stop. No hesitation/lurching/jerking (thank heavens!). I'll try to keep a more sensitive ear out for any grinding noise.

I'm going to take it into my Honda dealership soon as I can. I depend on my car (and it's my only car) for a lot, as do most people, I imagine, so being a full day without it is tough. I can only hope my dealership provides loaners. Otherwise I may have to take a day off work.

My car has only 25,000 miles on it, so I assume this is a problem of age and not miles driven?

Grinding-thunking-lurching, etc

The dealer did provide us with a loaner. It was an extremely large, red, truck that reaked of cigarettes, but it was a loaner. The "repairs" took about two and a half days and then I noticed that my stearing wheel is off kilter. It is no longer straight accross witht he dash (very uncomfortable). They are going to have to re-address the issue though because the jerking at slow speeds is still happening. The bucking problem with my car didn't begin until about 50 thousand miles, which seems to be pretty common.

Sounds like my problem is not near as severe as I've been reading from your post and others. Fro example, I drove it around a good amount of time yesterday, and only noticed the judder (maybe I don't know what "judder" really is?) and vibrations about half the time, or so. But I'll still have it looked at soon. Maybe they can "nip it in the bud" before it gets any worse in my case.

I just got the notice for

I just got the notice for the CVT Warranty Extension. I'm not sure what to do though since I have been complaining about this since I bought the car used last April (73,000 miles) and the dealership keeps saying that they don't feel it and I'm just not used to the CVT transmission. Maybe I should hit up a different dealership. Anyone have experience with one in Northeastern MA?

Thank God the notice came when it did because I am not at 91,000 miles and, at the rate I'm going, it would have expired by the summer.

Hey Pete,
I went to

Hey Pete,

I went to Commonwealth Honda in Lawrence, MA. It's just off 495. There was snow on the ground (Fri), and how they were able to differentiate between judder/slippage and tire spin I don't know, but they did say my CVT had the problem.

I bought my 04 Hybrid new in

I bought my 04 Hybrid new in May '04, it currently has around 48k on the clock. I've been very happy with it, often getting mileage as high as 60mpg for an entire tank in the late spring / early summer and not dropping below 40 even in miserably cold conditions.

Within the last ten thousand miles I started to notice a lag between accelerating and getting power and frequently a thud when it did finally kicked in. Similarly, taking my foot off the accelerator would have a delay before the charge cycle started and often quite a deceleration tug. The problem decreased some after the 40k service, but never totally went away. Then I noticed a creaking noise when accelerating at low speed.

A couple weeks ago I received a notice from Honda telling me they needed to check the CVT for problems with the starter clutch. Last week I took it in and they confirmed it had a judder while starting, which was enough for them to order the parts. I mentioned the other issues I was having and when I got it back after they'd looked at it, the power lag and charging problems had gone, replaced instead with a whirring noise when above 30 with a periodicity that increases with speed until around 50, when it either gets covered by the normal road noises or has gone. I also started to notice the judder issue, which may just be because I now know to look for it.

Anyway, today I dropped my car in for the CVT repair, I hope this fixes things, but pessimism is now a constant.

Hey Everyone.
I am new to

Hey Everyone.
I am new to the hybrid industry, and I am looking into buying a 2003 Civic Hybrid with 85k miles (5k over the warranty). It is for about $10k from a used car dealership which sells it "AS-IS".

Would you folks recommend buying this vehicle? Or should I leave it alone? Also, if I do purchase this vehicle without the warranty, can I still take it to a Honda place to get the problems fixed?

Josh;
I would only consider

Josh;

I would only consider the car if you have access to its maintenance history. This means that it must have been maintained at a Honda dealership and therefore it has a pretty good chance of being a well maintained vehicle. Good maintenance in these cars means much more than just changing the oil and the tires and it includes all the hardware and software recalls that have been released since 2004.

I would also get a CarFax report to make sure it is neither a salvage nor flood car. There are too many of these being auctioned to and sold by unethical dealers.

If it is a manual transmission car I would check to see if the traction battery has been changed/replaced. If it has not, please add almost $5000 to the $10,000 and see if that is too high for you. If you decide it is OK, please commit to keep the car for a long time as this may be the only way to justify the up-front $15,000 price tag.

If it is a CVT car, then the battery is less of a problem but then I would seek to have the CVT looked at just to be sure.

Finally, even if the car is out of warranty you can still have it serviced at any Honda dealership (actually, you should as Honda hybrid techs are the only ones truly qualified to work on these cars).

Thanks for the speedy

Thanks for the speedy reply!

Yes, it is an automatic transmission and the CarFax is clean and perfect.

We test drove it quickly at the dealership and the salesman was not very knowledgeable about the hybrids whatsoever. We looked in the maintenance book and the previous owner(s) did take car of it is appears.

I am a junior in high school right now and I just sold my old truck in order to buy a newer car. I saw this '03 Civic and was amazed at the price and it was quite enjoyable to drive. I just don't have extra money to put into this vehicle if it happens to have a lot of problems.

Before reading another thread on here, I didn't notice any "judder" or anything of that sort while I drove it, but I may not have been looking for it.